NEW YORK -- A freelance photographer who took a chilling picture of a man about to be killed by a subway train said Wednesday that there was "no way" he could have saved the man but that other people in the station could probably have pulled him to safety.

R. Umar Abbasi told NBC's "Today" show that he had been in Times Square shooting an assignment for the New York Post and was on a platform at a nearby subway station when, out of the corner of his eye, he "saw a body flying off onto the tracks."

"There was a collective gasp, and that got my attention," Abbasi said. At that point, he saw the man on the tracks and saw the lights of a train approaching.

Abbasi said he began running toward the scene and snapping pictures in hopes the flash of his camera would alert the conductor of the train. But the train was unable to stop in time, and Ki-Suck Han, 58, was crushed to death as he tried to climb back onto the platform.

The world is a dangerous place to live. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.

-Einstein.

__________________"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain...."

"The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly"

More concerned about getting famous than caring about another person's life. That's pretty sick to see. If someone's getting ready to die, the last thing I would think about is taking a picture.

Quote:

Abbasi said he began running toward the scene and snapping pictures in hopes the flash of his camera would alert the conductor of the train. But the train was unable to stop in time, and Ki-Suck Han, 58, was crushed to death as he tried to climb back onto the platform.

Well he was running towards train, so if he is to be believed he was at least doing something about it which is more than we can say for the other bystanders. And really judging by the distance between him and the victim as well as the speed of those trains when they come flying into the station, then I believe there was nothing he could do.

Quote:

The platform where the incident occurred is several hundred feet long. Abbasi said he was at one end of it, farther from Han than people waiting closer to the middle or the opposite end of the platform.

"The people who were standing close to him [Han] on the 50th Street exit could have ... they could have moved and grabbed him and pulled him out. Nobody made an effort," Abbasi said.

...

Abbasi said it was 22 seconds between the time he saw someone landing on the tracks and the time the train crushed Han. He added that he lost some time running toward the scene because the suspect ran in his direction after Han fell onto the tracks.

"Twenty-two seconds is a long time, but in this process while I'm running, the person who pushed him is coming toward me," Abbasi said. "There's a lapse in there when I braced myself with my back to the wall because I don't want to be pushed to the platform."

Abbasi, asked if he had sold the photograph, said he had "licensed it" but did not say to whom.

"What surprised me," he said, "is that there were so many cellular telephones that were taking pictures of a dead body while the doctor was trying to perform CPR."

Still, the fact that he sent out the photograph is some bad karma for the guy, even if he did try to help. Can't say the same for the other bystanders.

Well he was running towards train, so if he is to be believed he was at least doing something about it which is more than we can say for the other bystanders. And really judging by the distance between him and the victim as well as the speed of those trains when they come flying into the station, then I believe there was nothing he could do.

Still, the fact that he sent out the photograph is some bad karma for the guy, even if he did try to help. Can't say the same for the other bystanders.

The guy is ****ed up. He "licensed" (cute) the photo, but wouldn't say to whom. If he was such a stand-up guy, he would have turned the photo over to police and no others.